Vertical Horizonz works with schools to deliver Health and Safety, First Aid, Industrial Safety and Leadership training through their Gateway programmes for eight years.
The purpose of Gateway is to enable schools to provide senior students (year 11 to year 13+) with opportunities to access structured workplace learning that has:
- A formalised learning arrangement set in the workplace
- Specified knowledge and skills that a student will attain
- Specified assessment methods (workplace learning).
Schools align their Gateway programmes to the Vocational Pathways where possible. The Vocational Pathways provide a useful tool for course planning to provide cohesive learning options that are recommended by industry.
What are the Vocational Pathways?
These six pathways represent ways to structure and achieve NCEA Level 2 by providing a more coherent framework for foundational vocational education; students can develop their own individual education plans, are better informed and able to make better choices to meet their goals.
Government agencies, the industry training sector, secondary and tertiary representatives and industry and employer representatives worked together to develop the six Vocational Pathways for NCEA Level 2 as the foundation of the journey to employment. These groups are now in the process of developing pathways through qualifications achieved in NCEA Level 3 and beyond.
The Vocational Pathways were developed in collaboration with industry and education to better prepare students for further study, training or work.
The six pathways which align with six industry sectors are:
- Primary Industries
- Services Industries
- Social and Community Services
- Manufacturing and Technology
- Construction and Infrastructure
- Creative Industries
Young people can use these pathways to learn skills and qualifications demanded by employers. Employers can have confidence that young people are better prepared to participate in the workforce if they have achieved NCEA Level 2 with a Vocational Pathway.
To achieve a Vocational Pathways Award, a student must achieve 60 NCEA Level 2 credits from the recommended standards for the pathway(s), with 20 of those 60 credits specifically related to the sector (80 credits in total).
What are the benefits of Vocational Pathways for employers?
- Better skilled and competent young people who are tertiary ready and work ready
- Vocational Pathways that have been endorsed by industry
- Vocational Profiles that shows how a student's achievement relates to your sector
- Collaboration across education and employment.